200 ACANTHOPTERYGII. 



Family, XIV— TRICHIUEID^E, Gunther. 



Trichiurinae, Swaimon. 



Branchiostegals seven to eight: pseudobranchiEe. Body elongated and compressed. Gill openings 

 wide. Eyes lateral. Cleft of mouth deep. Teeth in jaws or palate, several being strong and conical. Dorsal 

 and anal fins many rayed : there may be finlets behind the dorsal or anal fins : ventrals, when present, 

 thoracic, but sometimes they are rudimentary : caudal absent or present. Scales when present rudimentary. 

 No prominent papilla behind the vent. Air-vessel present. Pyloric appendages few or many. 



Uses. — These fishes are held in various estimation in different places. In Beloochistan and where salt is 

 cheap no one will touch them, but along the coasts of India where the salt tax has ruined the fish curers' trade, 

 they are more esteemed, mostly because being thin or ribbon-shaped they can be dried without salting. Russell 

 observed that in his time they were esteemed by the European soldiers. Jerdon states that " they afford very 

 delicate eating when fresh though never brought to the table of Europeans." 



Geographical distribution. — Tropical seas and extending into more temperate regions. 

 Cantor observes that neither Trichiurus haumela nor T. savala are " electrical, but both give at certain 

 seasons, like many other fishes, a vivid phosphorescent light." 



SYNOPSIS OP INDIVIDUAL GENUS. 



Genus, 1— Trichiurus,* Linn. 



Hnchelyopus, Klein: Lepturus (Art.) Gill, and Eupleurogr animus, Gill. 



Branahiostegals seven : pseudobranchics. Body very elongate, strongly compressed, ribbon-shaped, tapering to 

 a finless point at the tail. Cleft of mouth deep. Teeth in jaw and palatines, those in the piremaxillaries being arched 

 a,nd very strong, whilst the lateral ones are lancet-shaped. A single long dorsal fin extending the whole length of the 

 bach : ventrals, when present, in the form of a pair of scales : anal spines minute, sometimes concealed beneath the 

 shin. Scales absent. Air-vessel present. Pyloric appendages numerous. 



SYNOPSIS OF SPECIES. 



1. Trichiurus muticus, D. 140-150. Ventral fins in the form of two rudimentary scales. Silvery. 



2. Trichiurus haumela, D. 127-133. Anal fin in the form of minute spines. Eyes from If to 2§ diameters 

 from end of snout. Silvery, upper third of dorsal fin dark. Seas and estuaries of India to China. 



3. Trichiurus savala, D. 112-120. Eyes 2f to 3| diameters from end of snout. Anal fin in the form of 

 spines. Silvery. Seas and estuaries of India to China. 



1. Trichiurus muticus, Plate XL VII, fig. 5. 



Gray, Zool. Misc. p. 10 ; Griffith, Cuv. Anim. King. Fishes, p. 349, pi. 6, f. 2 ; Gunther, Catal. ii, p. 348. 

 ? Trichiurus intermedins, Gray, 1. c. p. 10 ; Richards. Ich. China, p. 268. 

 ? Trichiurus medius, Griffith, 1. c. pi. 6, fig. 3. 



B. vii, D. 140-150, P. 11. 



Length of head 10| to 11 J, height of body 1/16 to 2/33 of the total length. TSyes — diameter 6| in 

 length of head, 2 diameters from end of snout, and nearly 1 apart. The height of the head equals 1/2 its 

 length. The lower jaw slightly produced beyond the upper : the maxilla reaches to below the middle of the 

 eye : interorbital space with a keeled ridge along its centre. Teeth — about 20 sharp compressed ones laterally in 

 the upper jaw, whilst anteriorly are two pairs of large, curved, and usually (but not invariably) slightly barbed 

 fangs : there are two similar but much smaller ones above the symphysis of the lower jaw, and which are anterior 

 to the snout when the mouth is closed; laterally there are about 15 or 16 teeth similar to those in the upper 

 jaw but smaller. Fins — the dorsal fin commences above the hind edge of the preopercle, its first rays are short, 

 their length being about equal to one diameter of the orbit, the longest rays are only about equal to 1/2 the 

 height of the body : the rudimentary ones have been enumerated in the numbers given above. Pectoral 1/3 as 

 long as the head. Ventrals indicated by two small rounded scale-like productions on the lower surface of the 

 abdomen, about 3/4 the length of the head posterior to the opercle. Anal spine almost or entirely concealed in 

 the skin. Lateral-line — almost straight and a little below the middle of the body especially in the last part of 

 its course. Colours — burnished silver, fins yellowish. 



Habitat. — Seas of India to China, it is very common in Orissa up to about 25 inches in length. The one 

 figured is 20| inches long and from Orissa. 



* Nus-sah-rue, Mugh. : Saiva/ryi, Tel. 



